


Almost There

by TinCanTelephone



Series: From Tumblr, With <3 [26]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Happy Ending, Major Character Injury, Mission Gone Wrong, Romantic Tension, Stranded, not sure if resolved or not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 22:08:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17232089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinCanTelephone/pseuds/TinCanTelephone
Summary: Stranded in the mountains of Ongary IX without food, water, or supplies, Jyn has to find help before Cassian runs out of time.





	Almost There

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [this ficlet](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/445088) by ephemera (incognitajones). 



> For anonymous on tumblr who prompted: “I can’t walk, just go on without me.” 
> 
> As you can imagine, I knew exactly where to go with this, then was further inspired by this wonderful ficlet by [incognitajones](https://incognitajones.tumblr.com/) :) Thank you so much for letting me borrow your opening!
> 
> It shouldn't be necessary to read that first to understand this, but it's not that long and very good so I highly recommend!

Twelve hours into being stranded, Jyn was still trying to wrap her head around how everything had managed to go so incredibly wrong. It wasn’t even the Empire that did them in, just pirates in the Ividal Sector who got a few lucky hits, taking out their hyperdrive and then their main engine. 

While Cassian worked in the rear of the ship trying to salvage the remains of their secondary engine, Jyn had tried desperately to bring them down safely on the main continent of Ongary IX. She’d been here before, as Tanith Ponta, and hoped she was remembering correctly which side of the mountains had a weaker imperial presence. 

To say the landing was rough would’ve been an understatement. Too focused on not dying herself, Jyn had to ignore Cassian’s cry of pain from behind her as they crashed into the slope of the mountain. She unbuckled her restraints and tried to run back to him, but something between them caught fire and she was forced to break the transparisteel viewport and climb out the front. 

Her legs shaky from adrenaline, she stumbled around to the back, screaming Cassian’s name and looking for a way out. Relief flooded her head when she saw that he had pulled himself halfway out of a rear exhaust port. 

She grabbed his hands and pulled him the rest of the way, just before the fire hit the power core and the entire wreck went up in flames. 

Jyn stumbled backward, Cassian leaning heavily on her arm, as the heat seared leaves from the treetops around them, and tried to suppress the panic as everything they had burned away. 

But she couldn’t dwell on it, because it was nearing dusk where they’d landed and they needed to find shelter before the night. And she hoped there was one close by, because although Cassian hadn’t made a sound since she pulled him from the ship, he was holding himself oddly, hunched over his left side and holding his arm close to his chest. 

Her mind screaming with worry, Jyn bit her tongue and forced herself not to ask until she found a place to look at him more thoroughly. 

And even when they found the cave and were huddled around their tiny fire, she didn’t say anything, hoping somehow he’d try to say,  _I’m fine_ , which would be a lie, but reassuring nonetheless. The silence was worse, but Jyn found herself growing more and more afraid to break it. 

 

* * *

 

Cassian fell asleep against her shoulder before the sun rose, breathing shallowly and still curled over his left side. Jyn didn’t wake him when the sun rose fully, although part of her was burning with urgency to start down the mountain. She’d sent an encrypted distress signal with the single comm salvaged from the crash, but had no way to tell if anyone heard it. 

Eventually, he woke himself up with a fit of dry coughs, a worrying symptom she’d noticed last night, and she knelt by him and forced herself to face reality. She helped him lie back and put a hand on his cheek, feeling around his forehead and neck. He felt a bit cold, but that could just be the air up here, where the altitude made every gust of wind cutting. 

“All right,” she said. “What hurts?”

“Left side,” he said. “Ribs.” 

“Okay.” She brushed her fingers over his lower left ribcage, although they had no medpack, and she was too afraid to put any pressure on it in case she made anything worse. 

But Cassian knew what she was looking for. “Definitely broken,” he said. “Thrown into the crankshaft.” 

He coughed again, and Jyn let out a breath when there was no blood on his lips. Which meant his lungs were (probably) intact, but she was still worried because he seemed to be in far more pain than she would expect for broken ribs. 

With shaking hands, she pulled at his shirt, already growing stiff with sweat and dirt and soot. He let her, mostly, but resisted when she tried to move his left shoulder. 

“Dislocated?” It didn’t look like it. 

He shook his head. “Just hurts.” 

Shit, that didn’t help. “Okay, let me just see…” She pulled back his shirt as far as she could without moving his upper arm. “Oh, fuck.”

His left side had clearly taken the brunt of the fall, although there were no open wounds. She saw a few scratches which, while long, did not appear to be deep and were no longer bleeding. The most concerning thing was the contusion spreading across most of his side, stretching from his stomach all the way up past his lower ribcage, and the ribs that were clearly broken. 

Jyn cursed again and wished again their medpack hadn’t been lost. She needed to scan him for internal bleeding, but as it was she just had to gently feel and guess. 

She didn’t feel any swelling under the skin, but he groaned when she reached the center of the bruise, a low sound he couldn’t quite bite back. She took his pulse and found it still strong, if a bit fast for someone lying down. But that could also be from the pain. 

She sat back and took a deep breath. “We can’t stay here,” she said. She was beginning to shiver in the wind, and could see goosebumps rising on Cassian’s exposed skin. 

She pulled his shirt down and considered their options. She could go back to the ship, hope to find something soft to cover him with while she tried to find civilization in the valley. But even as she thought it, her stomach twisted at the idea of leaving him alone. What if she came back and he was– What if she never came back and he– 

She swallowed. No, that couldn’t happen. 

Cassian shifted and she blinked back to the present. Left arm still cradling his ribs, he carefully pushed himself to sitting. “Let’s go,” he said, jaw set and determined. 

She stood and held out her hand, although her legs were shaking with fatigue from lack of sleep and food. 

He took it and after some grunting, they were both upright, although Jyn noticed Cassian still wouldn’t stand completely straight, his left shoulder curled in and hunched. 

“Are you sure?” she said. 

“Yes.” 

“Okay.” She didn’t let go of his hand and they started down the mountain.

 

At first, it wasn’t so bad. Cassian moved better than she expected, and Jyn began to hope that besides the broken ribs, it was just a bruise and he was walking it off. 

The the slope became steeper and she heard him hiss with every step on his left leg. She offered him her left shoulder, and to her surprise he leaned on it with his good arm

At first it was intermittent, just when he took a hard step, but soon it was constant and she knew the pain must be getting worse. She made him stop when she heard his breathing grow ragged. 

“I’m fine,” he said, leaning against a tree and coughing into his hand. She wondered how much smoke he’d inhaled on the ship when they crashed. 

“I don’t think it’s just a bruise and broken ribs,” she said, trying to disguise her fear by tilting her belt canteen to his lips. Something was wrong internally, and if they didn’t get help soon, he would run out of time. 

He shook his head, face grey and tight. “There’s nothing we can do.”

“Can you keep going?” They needed to find a settlement, and at this point she would even take an imperial garrison. If their covers held, Cassian might receive treatment before they would have to plan an escape. 

He pushed off the tree and took a few shallow breaths. “Yes.”

She offered her shoulder and he clamped his hand down on it, his fingers digging into her trapezius. Jyn put her hand over his and willed him to relax, that being tense was probably not helping whatever was wrong with him, although she knew that really, he shouldn’t even be walking. 

They were running out of time. 

She tried let him set the pace, and keep it steady, so they just kept moving no matter what, but then she saw smoke rising from the hills in front of them. Her heard sped up when she caught the faint smell of explosives– the planet was full of hfredium mines, this must be one of them. Which meant they probably had a medical facility, which meant they could help Cassian.

She picked up her pace without meaning to and just as they sank below the treeline and she lost the view of the smoke, Cassian stumbled. 

She stopped and tried to catch him, but he collapsed and all she could do was lower him to the ground and kneel beside him, the wet earth soaking through the knees of her trousers. 

“Cassian? Cassian?” His face felt colder than before, and she rubbed his cheeks and arms, trying to get his blood flowing again.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “Got dizzy.” 

That was a bad sign. He hadn’t mentioned that before. “Okay, let’s rest for a bit.” She kept rubbing his arms and waited, but minutes passed and he didn’t move to get up. 

“We’re almost there, Cassian,” she said. “Come on, just a few more meters.” She tried to pull him up, but he swayed dangerously once his hands left the ground and she wanted to scream, or cry, because he was too heavy and she couldn’t carry him. “Cassian, please.” 

He shook his head and let go, coughing and leaning against a rock. “I’m sorry, Jyn, I’m sorry, I can’t.” 

“You  _can_.” She tried to pull him up again, but let go at his hoarse cry of pain when she put pressure on his shoulder. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please say you’re okay, Cassian. Please, please say you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” he said, although his breaths were fast and too shallow and he was deathly pale. “Sorry, I’m okay.” 

She lowered herself to the ground so their faces were level and caught his chin with her hands. “It’s okay, Cass. It’s not your fault. I know it hurts, but I’m telling you we’re almost there. You’ll get to see a medic very soon if you can just keep going a little longer.”

He shook his head. “I can’t, Jyn. I can’t. It hurts and I’m so dizzy.” He closed his eyes and lowered his cheek to the rock. “You have to go on without me.” 

“What? No, I’m not doing that. I won’t.” She sat next to him, pressing as much of her body to him as she could, because she could see him shivering. 

He groaned. “You have to. I’m telling you, you have to. You can make it, and then you can come back for me.” 

And Jyn’s heart sank, because this was as close as he would go to ordering her to do anything. And she knew, in her heart, that he was right. 

So she closed her eyes and braced herself, pressing her lips to the back of his neck. And she whispered, “Okay.” 

And she left him there. 

She’d been dragging when they stopped, dehydrated and hungry and sore, but when she was out of his sight she felt a burst of adrenaline and she started moving faster and faster, until she was nearly running. 

And when the land evened out and the trees started to thin she broke into a sprint, yelling for help in every language she knew until she ran headlong into a woman stepping out of one of the low houses that lined the single street of the mining town. 

Jyn gasped and backed up. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I need help. Please, can you help me?” She realized suddenly there were tears streaming down her face and she was close to hyperventilating. 

The woman stared for a minute, her dark eyes searching Jyn’s face, her jacket, the state of her clothes. “You’re not from the empire.”

“No! No, I’m not. I’m– My ship- my ship crashed up the mountain, and my partner is hurt and I need–” Jyn wanted to reach out and grab the woman, pull her back to where Cassian was, but the woman had at least three stone and fifteen centimeters on her so she held back.

“Where is your partner?” 

“Back in the– he’s hurt and I couldn’t– I couldn’t…” Her throat closed up and Jyn felt her vision narrowing, her breaths were coming in gasps and she couldn’t focus. She needed to get back to Cassian, she’d already been gone too long– what if he’d– what if–

The woman’s hands clamped down on her wrists and Jyn tried to snap back to the present. 

“All right, let’s say I believe you.”

“You  _have_  to believe me, I–”

“Let’s say I believe you and you’re really Imp scum, and when me and our medic follow you into the forest you kidnap up us and hold us hostage for the town’s hfredium.”

“What? That’s insane!” Jyn threw her weight backwards, desperate to tug her arms free. “My partner’s injured and I had to leave him in the woods and you have to come with me–  _please,_  you have to help him.” Her eyes fell on the woman’s belt. “You can shoot me if we’re imperial, or if there’s an ambush. I promise, I swear on the Force just please help me.” 

“The Force, eh?” The woman wrinkled her nose and leaned closer. 

Jyn looked down and realized her necklace had fallen out of her shirt. She froze, not sure what to expect, searching her memory for how religious the sentients on this planet were. 

“All right,” the woman said, just as Jyn prepared to kick out at her shins. “Let me call our medic.” 

 

* * *

 

The medic brought a stretcher, and finally,  _finally_  Cassian was getting a scan. He’d been conscious, barely, when they found him, but passed out on the way back to the village. 

The medic’s equipment was a few generations old by Jyn’s eye, some of it even more so than the Rebellion’s, but it was all functional. 

The medic projected the scan on the holo to point everything out. “Broken ribs, contusions, minor lacerations, which I assume you found.”

Jyn nodded, searching for whatever else could be wrong. There had to be something, none of that could explain…

The medic lowered her pointer. “And what looks to be a splenic laceration.” 

Jyn’s heart sank and she thought she might cry. She’d been wrong. He  _was_  bleeding internally, and it had been so long and what if–

The medic continued. “Not too big, and if he’s only just passed out he should be okay with a transfusion and minor surgery. Do you know his blood type?” 

Jyn didn’t understand how the medic was so  _calm_  about everything. Cassian could be dying and she– she– “O-positive,” she gasped. 

The medic nodded and Jyn watched as Cassian was taken away. The world tilted under her and she swayed. Her legs felt like gelatin and her head lighter than air. She realized she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had anything to eat or drink.

Someone asked her something, but she couldn’t respond. Her vision was swimming and she couldn’t stop it. 

Strong arms caught her as she toppled forward. 

 

She blinked awake in a dark room, two glowing yellow eyes staring back at her from the corner. 

“Kay!” Her voice gave out and she coughed, reached for the water on a table next to her bed. 

“The Alliance received your distress signal,” he said. “Bodhi Rook and I have responded. He is preparing the ship for departure as we speak.” 

“Where’s Cassian?” Jyn scanned the room, eyes wide as she waited for them to adjust. 

“In the next room,” said Kay. “There were no complications during his surgery, but this settlement does not have the resources for a standard post-operative bacta treatment.” 

Jyn pushed herself to sitting and felt around on the floor for her shoes. “He’ll be okay, right?” 

“With continued treatment on Home I, he is expected to make a full recovery.” 

“Take me to him,” she said, struggling to tie her laces in the dark. 

“There is an 80% chance he is still asleep.”

“I need to see him.”  _I need to see him still breathing_. 

“If you insist.” 

She followed Kay down a short hallway to a room just like her own, where Cassian was lying flat on the bed. She rushed to his side, squinting to make out his features in the dark. He looked relaxed, almost as if it was a normal sleep. 

And maybe it was, she wasn’t sure what was in the IV attached to his arm. 

Kay departed, muttering something about giving her time to be sentimental, but she ignored him. She focused on Cassian’s hand, which felt warm under hers, and when she slid a finger around his wrist she could feel his pulse was strong. 

She looked up when she heard him move. 

It was just barely, a slight shift of his head as his eyes cracked into slits. “J’n?”

She leaned forward, brushing a hand through his hair. “I’m right here.”

He tried to move, and winced. “Hurts.”

“I know, but you’re going to be okay.” 

He blinked up at her, his eyes catching the sliver of light coming from under the door. “I told you to leave.”

“Yes.” And it broke her heart to do it.

“You came back.”

“Of course I did.” She moved her hand back to his and intertwined their fingers. “I always will.” 

**Author's Note:**

> [Original Tumblr Post](https://cats-and-metersticks.tumblr.com/post/180580934270/i-cant-walk-just-go-on-without-me)
> 
> The end!! I hope you enjoyed ittt :) 
> 
>    
> I'm still on tumblr as [cats-and-metersticks](https://cats-and-metersticks.tumblr.com/) <33


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